Jose Gutierrez-Peredia, 25, a man living in Denver, was shot outside the Mariposa Apartments in the 1300 block of West Mississippi Avenue on the night of September 1, 2013. Officers were called around 10:20–10:30 p.m. and found him on the ground with gunshot wounds; he was later pronounced dead. Detectives quickly identified a suspect, 39-year-old Victor Baltazar and obtained a first-degree murder warrant as they appealed for the public’s help locating him.
According to an arrest affidavit summarized in later reporting, the shooting followed an argument between the two men outside the apartment building where they both lived; investigators noted a possible romantic-relationship conflict involving the victim’s girlfriend and the suspect. Within days of the killing, police announced that Baltazar had fled and was believed to have left the country.
For years the case remained open while authorities pursued him abroad. In February 2018, Mexico granted extradition and U.S. Marshals transported Baltazar-Gonzalez to Denver, where he was booked into the city jail without bond to stand trial on the 2013 murder charge. Public records and news releases indicate the extradition and charging details but do not show a publicly reported verdict; the Denver District Attorney’s 2018 notice confirms only the return to Denver and the pending case status at that time.
